BOOK REPORT - A GUIDE WITH FORMAT AND EXAMPLES

BOOK REPORT - A GUIDE WITH FORMAT AND EXAMPLES

BOOK REPORT - A GUIDE WITH FORMAT AND EXAMPLES

Home »

Do you like reading? Don’t tell me you hate it!

Oh! You like reading a book and are somewhat of a bookaholic.

That’s great because you got a plus point. But those of you who do not like it, there is nothing to be scared of.

You can learn and master how to write a book report in quite a short time.

1. What is a Book Report?

A book report is a written summary of some fiction or nonfiction work. It shows what you have learned from the book and help others decide whether they should invest their time reading it or not.

Book report writing and book reviews are almost an essential part of the academics and reading those thick and heavy books, which do not even seem interesting, is anything but easy.

However, the two should not be considered as the same thing. Unlike book reports, a book review is a critical evaluation of a book or novel where you get to provide your opinion and point of view, if you want to explore more about it, you can go through how to write a book review.

2. How to Write a Book Report?

In order to understand how to write a book report, keep in mind the following steps and components while writing.

2.1 Read The Book

The most important point before writing a good report is to become aware of that book, which obviously cannot be done without reading it.

Things to consider while reading the book are:

2.2 Be Fully Prepared

Make sure that you are free and you won't have to leave or stop reading your book to get the pending tasks done.

2.3 Explore Information about Author

When you start reading some books, irrespective of the fact that it is for the purpose of writing a book report or not, paying attention to the author is important. Search for information about their life and ideology.

2.4 Make Jotted Notes

Another important thing in this regard is to keep your pen and notes with you.

For example, note down the important dates, the point of entry of important characters, change in tone of the author and details about the character's personality.

3. Book Report Outline

By the time you are done reading the book; you'll have jotted notes with you. Use these notes to help you develop an effective book report outline.

3.1 Write Introduction

Students are often confused about how to start a book report. They waste so much time thinking of ways to start the report that they don’t actually write it.

The best way to start writing is to follow a proper book report format. Begin with writing the introduction first.

A typical book report introduction should have three components including a universal statement, background information and detail, thesis statement.

Start the introduction with a fact about the book or revelation. Then provide relevant background information in four to five sentences. Present the name of the book, mention the author, year of publication, number of pages, genre and setting.

Lastly, construct a strong thesis statement. Make a claim about the book that you can prove with examples and facts from the book as your thesis.

The introduction comprises information about the books purpose, details about the setting and the main character of the book.

3.2 Body Paragraphs

To start the writing process, you can include short plot summaries in the first body paragraph without revealing all the details about the story.

Then, in the second body paragraph, give some examples from the book, to stress the writing style of the author or present the details about the discussion of the book.

Explore how the characters were built over the chapters, their experiences and discuss the theme of the book in its regard. Contrary, you can compare any two of the main characters of the story.

In the third body paragraph, you can add some quotes from the book to provide the authenticity to the readers.

At middle school and high school level they body of a book report is usually three paragraphs long. Start by providing a mission statement that is an aspect of the book that supports the thesis. Next find 5-6 examples from the book that consolidate your thesis further. Finally, end by showing how you satisfied the thesis.

Use this infographicFacebookTwitterPinterest

3.3 Concluding Paragraph

Summarize the points discussed in the report. Include details about referring that author or book and the type of audience that you refer for it, unless your instructor has instructed otherwise.

Lastly, don't forget to:

• Proofread
• Edit and make improvements

3.4 MLA Book Format

If you haven’t been provided a particular writing style to follow then format your report using the MLA format.

These are some of the general rules of using the MLA style:

• Times New Roman, 12 pt. font
• Double-space text
• Your name, teacher’s name, class, submission date on the top-left corner of the page
• Center align the book report title
• Indent each paragraph using tab
• Your last name followed by the page number on the top right corner

3.5 Book Report Template

We have added both fiction and non-fiction book report templates for your ease and understanding. Just fill out the answers to the questions provided in these templates and you will have a nice and informative report.

BOOK REPORT TEMPLATE (PDF)View File

BOOK REPORT FORMAT (PDF)View File

3.6 Book Report Examples

To give you a better understanding of writing book reports here are a few samples that you can go through.

BOOK REPORT EXAMPLE (PDF)View File

BOOK REPORT COLLEGE LEVEL (PDF)View File

4. Creative Book Report Ideas

Choosing a book for the report on your own, can be a challenging task. You don't have any idea about which book to read or what your professor would prefer.

Here are a few ideas about the books you can write a report on:

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• The Fault in Our Stars book report
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• Hunger games book report
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Charlotte's web book report
• Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• A thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• The Odyssey by Homer
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
• A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Voilà!

You finally know how to do a book report.